Are Mooncakes Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss)

Mooncakes are a traditional Chinese food eaten usually for the Mid-Autumn festival which usually falls around October.

It’s a delicious food that is considered a delicacy around China and holds a lot of value within the dish.

It’s essentially a pastry that’s filled with either red bean paste, black sesame paste, or lotus-seed paste.

Although Mooncakes are delicious, are they healthy?

Mooncakes are generally high in carbs, fats, and calories which means that it has a high potential for the individual to gain weight and overeat. There is a small amount of protein in the dish which makes for an imbalance of macronutrients.

In order to stay lean while eating our Mooncakes this fall season, we need to understand what goes in them and look deeper into the nutrition facts of a typical Mooncake pastry.

Here are five tips and facts for you to eat your Mooncakes and still stay within a healthy diet.

Understand What Goes Inside Of Your Mooncakes
Know How Many Calories Go Inside Of Mooncakes
Understand How Many Calories You Need To Eat In a Day
Make Sure To Workout & Build Muscle
Keep Active & Utilize The Carbs From Mooncakes

Let’s take a deeper look at all of these individual steps and see what we can do to stay healthy while trying to finish off the Mooncake craze that comes within the end of the year.

Tip 1: Understand What Goes Inside Of Your Mooncakes

Eating healthy generally means to eat a balanced diet that controls the three macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat.

It’s very typical to eat carbs and fats while neglecting the protein so this is something that we definitely need to watch out for in our everyday lives.

Mooncakes are essentially a carb bomb with a lot of fats coming from the oils and shortening used in the crust or pastry layer.

Many feature a dehydrated egg yolk in the middle of it too which can add even more fat to the already heavy dish.

Mooncakes are made from a mixture of cake flour, vegetable oil or shortening, golden syrup (a refined cane sugar solution) and water.

If you feel the texture of a mooncake you can definitely feel for how thick the pastry is as there is usually a whopping 24 grams of oil used in the crust (1).

24 grams of oil might not be a lot but we need to consider the ratio of flour to oil.

There are 24 grams of oil for every 100 grams of cake flour.

This means we’ll be getting a lot of calories from fat per pastry which is not ideal for staying lean and healthy.

The filling is pretty simple as it either includes around 200 grams of black sesame paste, red bean paste, or lotus seed paste.

Each has their own distinct flavor which are extremely delicious, however, packed with a lot of carbs coming from sugar.

The traditional form of Mooncake uses the lotus seed paste which is actually my least favorite when compared with the other choices.

Some also feature a salted or dehydrated egg yolk in the middle of the pastry for a unique salty flavor and an exciting textural change.

It’s actually a pretty simple dish with a lot of unique flavors that, when combined, make a chewy pastry packed with sweet and savory flavors that all work really well together.

Although Mooncakes are delicious, are they healthy?

Let’s take a closer look at the calories of a typical Mooncake dish and see what we can find out about its nutritional information.

You get a whopping 54 grams of carbs for every 13 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein.

There is virtually no protein in this dish and you actually get a ton of fat from it as well.

The problem with most diets is the imbalance towards carbs and fats while neglecting protein.

Carbs and fats are delicious and have a high potential to be overeaten and overindulged.

I, myself, am guilty of eating foods like this too.

But I make sure to balance it out with a slice of fish or chicken breast coming from my other meals.

The trick here is to really be aware of what you eat in a day and constantly look up the calorie contents of the foods you usually eat until you have a good idea of what they calorically consist of.

I’ve always known that mooncakes were around 50 grams of carbs as I made sure to look them up years ago when I had them for the first time.

It might be a hassle but it’s definitely worth it when you see the results that finally come.

Let’s take a look at the fats coming from this dish as well.

13 grams might seem low but it’s actually pretty high for fats as they are the highest amount of calories per 1 gram of fat.

Carbs and protein both have 4 kcals per 1 gram while fats have 9 kcals per 1 gram.

This means that 107 calories or about 30% of the calories you get from Mooncakes are going to be fats.

If your mooncake has an egg yolk in there, you’ll actually be getting 5 more grams of fat within an addition of 2 grams of protein.

Staying healthy means to eat certain fattening foods in moderation and, after taking a closer look at these macros, mooncakes definitely fall into that category.

The thing about mooncakes too is that you’ll be getting a pack or two from all of your relatives and family friends (which you can’t refuse due to respect and gratitude).

So, you just need to make sure to eat them in moderation and eat less carbs than you usually would for the remainder of the day.

You can totally eat mooncakes in a healthy diet, you just need to make sure that you balance out the three macronutrients for your entire day.

One bad meal in your day doesn’t mean that the world is ending.

You can definitely work around that meal and plan ahead so that you can stay on track for your diet.

For example, I know that mooncakes are 54 grams of carbs, 13 grams of fat, and 2 grams of protein.

I know now that this snack lacks in protein so I’ll make sure to get more calories coming from protein for my next meal or snack.

I also know that there are 13 grams of fat, so I should probably choose a leaner meat such as chicken breast or tuna.

You can definitely create balance as you play around with the macronutrients.

It’s really a numbers game where you need to reach your gram goal for each of the macronutrients.

If you want to figure out your own specific macronutrient ratio, then make sure to check out this blog where we go over the process step by step.

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/how-to-actually-get-a-six-pack-after-30

Now that we know about the nutrition facts of a mooncake and how to work around the carb load we get from them,

let’s take a look at how many calories we need to eat in a day to stay lean.

Tip 3: Understand How Many Calories You Need To Eat In a Day

Mastering how to get your daily allotted calories is the first step you need to eat in a day to stay healthy when you diet.

When you have no knowledge of how much to eat in a day, you’ll most likely be overeating or undereating which can cause many problems down the line.

There’s a concept called energy balance which dictates how much fat you will carry.

It basically compares the calories your body has burned from the day to the amount of calories that it consumed.

Calories in vs. calories out.

Depending on your goal you can fall into one of three ranges.

Maintenance, which is when your body burns the same amount that it has consumed.

Weight Gain, when your body consumes more than what it burns (most common when not knowing how many calories to eat).

Weight Loss, when your body burns more calories than it has consumed.

By controlling your calories, you control your body's shape and how you feel.

We often eat too much unknowingly which comes from us not knowing how many calories we need to eat in a day.

Even a rough understanding will help you stay within your range and combat weight gain as you’ll be aware of how much you’re going over.

There are two methods to find out your calorie range but, in the end, it all comes down to trial and error.

You can either use an online TDEE calculator or just simply multiply your bodyweight by 12 and see what you get.

These are both very inaccurate measurements on how many calories you should eat but it gives you a good starting point.

After you get your number from either of these methods, you need to tweak it up a bit and see what really works for you.

Let’s take a person that weighs in at 140 pounds.

The calculation tells us that we should be eating around 1,680 (let’s say 1,700 to make it easier) kcals a day.

1,700 might be the perfect amount but it often doesn’t always hit the number correctly.

If that person does not lose a pound or a pound and a half max when eating those calories for a week, then he or she should drop the calories by 100 each week until a change occurs.

Or, the better method would be to increase activity level which we’ll get to in the other section of this article.

The calories you need to consume in a day depend heavily on your activity level and your BMR.

You can’t really change your BMR but you can change your activity level which means it’s a variable that we can control in our weight loss process.

When you eat food like Mooncakes that are high in calories and carbs, overall activity level is key as it will allow you to have more freedom to eat delicious pastries here and there.

There’s a lot more room for error when you live an active lifestyle so make sure to seek it out if you’re eating a carb heavy diet.

Let’s get more into this concept and see how muscle falls into the equation of eating and staying healthy.

Tip 4: Make Sure To Workout & Build Muscle

Muscle is really what allows us to eat delicious foods like Mooncakes while still staying lean and fit.

The reason for this is because muscle burns calories at rest which means that the more we have, the more we can burn.

It’s a small amount that accumulates over time but it definitely makes a huge difference when you pack a lot of it on.

Dieting is honestly too hard if you don’t have any muscle or stay sedentary as you need to eat so little in order to see some results.

Muscle allows us to eat more and stay lean which is so key as you’ll feel more satiated when you eat at a caloric deficit. It also looks great and is the difference between looking skinny fat and lean after your long diet.

To make it easier for you to learn how to workout we made this workout plan for both men and women that you guys can follow.

It’s great for if you’re someone who just wants to start out and learn about the basic movements.

WOMEN

Monday (Full Upper):

Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20
Lateral Raises: 4x15
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Dumbbell Row: 3x10
Dumbbell Fly: 3x10
Knee Push Ups: 4x20
Weighted Crunches: 3x35

Wednesday (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps)

Assisted Pull Ups: 3x10
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Cable Row: 4x15
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15
Hamstring Curl: 4x15
Bicep Curls: 3x10
Hammer Curls: 3x10

Friday: (Legs/Butt/Abs):

Squats: 5x5
Goblet Squats: 4x20
Glute Bridge: 4x20
Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg
Jump Squats: 4x20
Weighted Crunches: 3x35
Leg Lifts: 3x35

MEN

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day)

Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps
Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps
Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps
Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps
Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps
Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps

Wed: Legs & Abs

Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps
Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps
Stiff Leg DeadLift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps
Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps
Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps
Weighted Sit Ups: 4 sets 25 reps
Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

Fri: Back & Biceps (Pull Day)

Assisted Pull Ups: 3 sets 10 reps
Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps
Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)
Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps
Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps
Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

You can start off by learning the workouts on Youtube.

If going to the gym intimidates you then build a gym at home for cheap!

Check out this link for the products we recommend you buy if you want to safely workout at home and see some substantial results.

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/home-workout-equipment

Now that we’ve looked through this workout plan, let’s take a look at why we need to stay active when eating foods like Mooncakes.

Tip 5: Keep Active & Utilize The Carbs From Mooncakes

I’m sure that you’ve heard that carbs are the enemy and they’re the main driving factor at keeping us from getting a flat stomach or abs.

The keto diet is very popular these days due to this myth which is something we really don’t recommend.

Carbs are our direct source of energy and they allow us to function properly and fuels our workouts and movements.

The real enemy is inactivity and staying sedentary while eating more carbs than you need to.

It’s a hard pill to swallow and it takes effort to combat but it’s what keeps us healthy and fit.

Mooncakes are a food that, if eaten by someone sedentary, will probably make the individual gain weight as it's packed with unused calories.

If you actively workout and build muscle, however, there is so much room to eat this delicious pastry and still look great.

Fats and carbs are the two macronutrients that will be more likely to be stored as energy.

This is why we need to control the amount of calories we get from carbs and fats in order to utilize the energy we gained through movement and workouts.

The tip here is to live active and go out and seek a workout regimen.

We provided you one above in this article but, if that’s too much hard work, simply go outside for a walk 3-4 times a week and you’ll be good to go.

Food is such an important part of my life and I really like to eat all the delicious foods that this world has to offer.

I get to eat Mooncakes and pastries because I earned it and I know that, after having one, I still have a ton of calories left for the day.

This is the ideal lifestyle that I believe we should all be living and it requires you to stay active and mindful.

It’s a bit of a sacrifice but it’s a great way to take care of our bodies and live fit.

There It Is!

In this article we discussed the healthy benefits of Mooncakes and saw what the calories for a typical dish called for.

There are a ton of carbs and fats when you eat your Mooncakes so make sure you stay active and keep consistent with the workouts we provided for you in this article.

If you’re looking for more articles on healthy Asian foods, then make sure to check out our posts where we discuss all the popular Asian dishes.